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John C Posted: Sat, Aug 4 2012 1:01 AM

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Straits Times: Gardens by the Bay opens on June 29

Photo: SPH

CURTAINS go up on the first phase of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore's complex of three waterfront gardens, on June 29.
Under this phase, the 54ha Bay South Garden - expected to pull in five million visitors a year - will debut, with two cooled conservatories among its highlights.
When the entire Gardens complex, including Bay East and Bay Central gardens, is ready by 2015, it will sit on 101ha of reclaimed land, the space of 177 football fields - far larger than the 63ha Botanic Gardens.
The Bay South Garden's 2ha outdoor event area alone, the largest here, will be able to host events for 30,000 people.
The project is the most costly Government-funded attraction in at least a decade, with Bay South Garden alone costing $1 billion, said the Gardens' assistant director of business Darren Oh.
The 40ha Night Safari, which opened in 1994, probably counts as one of the most recent publicly-funded major recreational spaces; River Safari opens only later this year.
Developed with education, recreation and conservation in mind, the Gardens complex will add lustre to the menu of attractions in Marina Bay.
Besides its conservatories and 18 'Supertrees', concrete-and-metal structures resembling trees, Bay South's other attractions are the Heritage Gardens and the Dragonfly Lake and Kingfisher Lake.
Visitors looking for a meal and refreshments in late June will find six of the 13 Bay South eating places open, including a food hall operated by the Select Group and Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton's Pollen restaurant.
Entry will be free, but admission fees will apply at the conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest, and at the 128m aerial walkway that wends through the Supertree Grove.
Singaporeans and resident adults can buy a day pass to one conservatory for $12, and two for $20. The walkway costs $5 per adult. (See Page A8 for other ticket prices.)
Already, tour agencies say they are marketing the Gardens to potential visitors and are in talks with the Gardens to iron out configurations for tour packages and the logistics.
The group vice-president of sales and marketing for Tour East, Ms Judy Lam, said the restaurant atop the 50m tall Supertree and the conservatories would offer visitors 'something different'. Likening the Gardens to New York's Central Park, she added: 'A garden in a city - it's going to come up well.'
National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (Natas) chief Robert Khoo said enquiries have been received from 30 of the 400 Natas members about putting the Gardens on their tour itineraries.
Announcing the opening date yesterday, Gardens by the Bay chief executive Tan Wee Kiat said his hope is for the Gardens to capture the 'imagination and excitement' of the natural world. He also hoped it would lure young people away from their digital pastimes to appreciate the wonders of the natural world.
Of the cooled conservatories, he said: 'Here on the equator... we're in a garden that is perpetual summer. Into this garden, we've brought two glass houses that give you a touch of perpetual spring.'
The Flower Dome will replicate the cool, dry climate of the Mediterranean and semi-arid sub-tropical regions such as South Africa; the Cloud Forest will house 130,000 plants found between 1,000m and 3,500m above sea level.
The Bay South Garden will be open from 5am to 2am daily; its conservatories and aerial walkway will be open from 9am to 9pm daily.

http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/media_centre/singapore_headlines/2012/201204/new_20120404_03.html

I.H.T. Special Report: Smart Cities

Garden Project Sets New Green-Energy Standards

By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP

Published: July 28, 2011

SINGAPORE — Developers say the Gardens by the Bay project in Singapore, estimated to cost 1 billion Singaporean dollars, or $810 million, will set new standards for using sustainable energy in an integrated power system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/business/global/garden-project-sets-new-green-energy-standards.html

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John C replied on Sat, Aug 4 2012 1:05 AM

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‘Gardens by the Bay is not for everyone’

By Belmont Lay | The Flipside – Sat, Jul 14, 2012

In "The FlipSide", local blogger Belmont Lay lets loose on local politics, culture and society. Take with a pinch of salt and parental permission is advised.  In this post, he talks about his experience at the Gardens by the Bay.

The newly-minted Gardens by the Bay is attracting visitors aplenty.

Close to 300,000 people from Singapore and beyond have descended upon it like locusts since its June 29 opening.

And I can see where this fascination for man-made nature comes from.

A place for reflection

First and foremost, the Gardens is sweet payback for many Singaporean men who survived outfield jungle training during National Service and completely despised the experience.

That horrendous week in the midst of endless chlorophyll, grovelling in mud, wearing leaves and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes while squatting over a hole in the ground?

Eat my shorts now, Mother Nature.

Look, Man will fashion everything out of steel, concrete and plastic if we have to.

And everything that can't will be trimmed and pruned or uprooted or poisoned with pesticide.

This is a redefinition of nature -- and a glimpse as to what our human nature can be like.

Therefore, going to the Gardens allow us to take a good hard look into ourselves.

Nostalgia-inducing

Next, the Chinese Garden, Malay Garden, Indian Garden and Colonial Garden are very good for inducing nostalgia.

Spending time in these four stereotypical heritage gardens help retrieve fond memories during and up until the 1990s.

That was a time when Singapore was still governed according to race. But eventually, our elected rulers lost the plot.

Because as we all know these days, since 40 per cent of this country is already composed of foreigners, having just four representative gardens is only 60 per cent accurate at most.

This speaks poorly of history at best as it doesn't warn us in advance of the pitfalls of a liberal immigration policy.

But as a cruel inside joke, it is wickedly funny. In a sad way.

Expensive admissions charges

Since Singapore is filled to the brim, introducing discriminatory admissions pricing is very helpful when sorting them out at the Gardens.

You see, non-Singaporeans are charged $28 to look at the results of hoarding 225,000 species of leaves and branches from around the world that are perennially held hostage in the opulent glass houses known as domed conservatories.

Singaporeans, on the other hand, only need to pay $20 to look at these same kind of things that grow slowly and silently out of the soil rather purposelessly.

Which on normal days, they wouldn't even pay to look at green things if they went to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve or Bukit Brown cemetery where the cost is free-of-charge.

But most importantly, setting a high admission cost will help keep poor people out.

Certainly, you wouldn't want them around when the entire set piece is a tourist attraction and Singapore needs to put its best foot forward.

Exclusive special edition chicken rice

And then there's the chow.

It takes eating chicken rice to a whole new level.

What's so special about the Special Edition Gardens by the Bay Chicken Rice is that it is made from chicken and rice. With cucumber. And sauces.

At $20 a plate, as you eat you, you can feel your heart surging with pain and it wouldn't even be cholesterol-induced.

The price certainly justifies the sensation!

But if you prefer not to give in to your extravagance and pamper yourself this way, simply take a cab to Maxwell Food Centre and gorge yourself to death from the rival chicken rice stalls.

It will probably set you back $18 max. In total.

Danger of looking passe

Happily, the Gardens still manages to attract the bored, lethargic and wide-eyed, besides families, couples and anyone with Instagram.

And everyone has to go now before it is too late.

That is because the whole place will look dated by some time end of this year. Even though it was planned to look futuristic.

And by 2014, it will be officially passe.

Like how all phones produced last year look passe only six months down the road.

Overall, I have to admit, it was a pleasant experience.

But I hated it.

Belmont Lay is one of the editors of New Nation, an online publication that is well-liked only among a few people.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-flipside/gardens-bay-not-everyone-085320199.html

Gardens by the Bay (Chinese: 滨海湾花园) consists of three distinct waterfront gardens – Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden, set in the heart of Singapore's new downtown Marina Bay, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.

Spanning 101 hectares (250 acres), Gardens by the Bay is an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden". The stated aim is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.

First announced to the public by Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally in August 2005, Gardens by the Bay is intended to become Singapore's premier urban outdoor recreation space, and a national icon.

An international competition for the design of the master plan, held in January 2006, attracted more than 70 entries submitted by 170 firms from 24 countries. Two firms – Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter – were eventually awarded the master plan design for the Bay South and Bay East Gardens respectively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay

I.H.T. Special Report: Smart Cities

Garden Project Sets New Green-Energy Standards

By SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP

Published: July 28, 2011

SINGAPORE — Developers say the Gardens by the Bay project in Singapore, estimated to cost 1 billion Singaporean dollars, or $810 million, will set new standards for using sustainable energy in an integrated power system.

Its large underground biomass boiler system will use all the tree and grass clippings and organic waste gathered by workers employed by the National Parks Board to power the development’s two conservatory domes.

A process known as thermal stratification will ensure that cool air inside the domes settles at the lower levels and that warm air is allowed to rise and vent from the upper zones. Pipes filled with chilled water will run through the ground. A liquid desiccant system that helps dehumidify air will be used to achieve greater energy savings, reducing the need to over-cool the air in order to remove moisture — the process used by most conventional air-conditioning.

“The biomass boiler is such a big project that we won’t actually be using all the energy that comes from that, so in a way, strangely, the engineer says, the two domes are reducing the carbon footprint of Singapore,” said Andrew Grant of Grant Associates, the British landscape architecture firm that designed the Bay South Garden, the first phase of the project, due to open next June.

Another showpiece of the design will be 18 manmade trees whose steel trunks, reaching up to 50 meters, or 165 feet, will be vertical gardens planted with indigenous ferns, orchids and other climbers. Topped by large canopies with 45-meter circumferences, they will provide plants and visitors alike with shade and shelter. The steel trees will also incorporate environmentally friendly technology, such as the ability to harvest and reuse water and solar panels. The trees will also serve as exhaust tubes for the conservatories.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/business/global/garden-project-sets-new-green-energy-standards.html